Free To Fly
by TheIrishSaiyan
Summary: Itachi in return for his service to Humanity is given another chance at life in a different universe. Now follow Itachi as he deals with a captain with power to rival even the strongest Shinobi but has the mind of a child and his new crewmates who are all slightly insane, as well as Rival crews, Yonkou, fish people and a corrupt government... here's me thinking this was a reward.
1. Chapter 1

**OK! This is my first ever story and honestly I'm not holding my breath on it being too great but it will give me a chance to learn and correct my mistakes, well anyhow the concept of my story is that Itachi after ending the Edo Tensei and putting Kabuto under Izanami finally is able to move on to the Pure Lands and rest confidant that** **Sasuke** **has become a man of his own right and if need be Naruto will knock some sense into his stubborn head. However as a reward for all of his selfless acts throughout his short life** **Kami** **decides to give him a second chance to live out his life.**

" **Speech"**

' _Thoughts'_

 _ **Jutsu and Moves (I will be using the English translations of both moves e.g. Gum Gum: Red Hawk and Fire Release: Grand Fireball naturally however I will make exceptions for the more commonly known ones such as Rasengan, Edo Tensei and Mangekyo Sharingan techniques. This is because if you're reading this you speak English and not everyone can speak/read Japanese, this also saves me time as I don't have to translate my OC Moves and look up moves for every fight)**_

 _ **DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE OR NARUTO, NARUTO SHIPPUDEN OR BORUTO:**_ **NARUTO** _ **NEXT GENERATIONS THEY BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS EIICHIRO ODA AND MASHASHI KISHIMOTO.**_

 **Chapter 1: A Fresh Start**

"I will love you always" Itachi said softly to his younger brother as his consciousness dissolved and his soul left the shell that was sustaining it. Taking one last look at Sasuke and feeling nothing but pride and love for his brother Itachi closes his eyes as the darkness washes over him _'goodbye Sasuke'_

Itachi felt nothing but calm, it was as if the place he had awoken in was tailor made for his preferences. The air wasn't too hot nor too cold, the perfect temperature. The light level wasn't too strong where it hurt his sensitive eyes but it wasn't too dim so as he struggled to see his surroundings. After blinking a few times Itachi realised he had vision in both of his eyes and not just one.

' _I suppose wounds my body sustained are not mirrored on my soul...'_

Sitting up he that found he was on a bed which looked like it was fit for royalty as the silk sheets were fresh and clean, the pillows were comfortable and the mattress was soft and yet just firm enough that he was comfortable. Deciding that he would be better off exploring his new surroundings Itachi stood up looked down at his body, gone was the red cloak which those who were brought back via Edo Tensei wore and instead was replaced by the outfit he usually wore under the Akatsuki cloak. _'Is this the Pure Lands?'_ Itachi thought as he continued to look around the room _'will I get to see my parents again? What about Shisui or Izumi...'_

 _Guilt washed over Itachi as he remembered the girl who had loved him for years and had finally managed to force her way into his heart and finally get him to reciprocate her love only for him to murder her using_ _ **Tsukiyomi**_ _to allow him to steel his resolve and proceed with the massacre of the entire Uchiha clan._

"She will be disgusted by me" Itachi whispered out loud giving voice to his thoughts.

"Izumi-san is actually very proud of you Itachi-san" said a soft regal sounding voice. Itachi spun on his heel, Shinobi reflexes combined with his naturally alert mind allowing him to react quickly to the new presence in the room.

Now it took a lot to get a look of any form of surprised or shock to cross the face of Itachi and so the slightly widening of his eyes as well as raised eyebrows was akin to a normal person gasping loudly and so when Itachi took in the beautiful woman in front of him he was honestly at a loss for words. Her face was beautiful with emerald green eyes which shone with nothing but kindness and her smile which was gorgeous yet motherly as if she was smiling at her own son. The woman's hair was long, reaching to her lower back and a warm brown which was not unlike Izumi's own. She was dressed in a simple red kimono with an ornate necklace with a purple gem which Itachi did not recognise. "Hello Itachi-san, how are you feeling?" the woman asked with slight but noticeable concern in her voice. "I am fine thank you" Itachi said an after a moment of thought he frowned "may I ask who you are? You seem familiar however I cannot seem to remember".

"Well Itachi-san I am who your people called 'Kami' and as for the familiarity I can assure you its normal as everyone who meets me feels the same way"

Itachi's usual calm and collected personality was temporarily shattered as his eyes widened "Kami-sama!" he says quickly eyes cast onto the floor as he bows low "please forgive my rudeness". Kami simply giggles and lifts his face up to look her in the eyes "there is nothing to forgive Itachi-san you brave selfless man. If anything I believe I should be thanking you freed all the dead who were being used like children's toys, you also avoided so much bloodshed by preventing the Coup d'état and ended up saving hundreds of thousands of lives" she states with pride and happiness in her voice while smiling at him

To say Itachi was shocked at the words leaving the deities mouth was like saying the ocean was damp or lava was warm. Kami, seeing the young man lost for words, decides to continue "You see Itachi-san, I've been slightly influencing events from the moment the dead were brought back, normally I'm content to simply watch from the sidelines and believe you will sort out your own messes and learn from your mistakes however I occasionally step in to push you in the right direction such as the fight between Hashirama and Madara". She decides to pause to allow him to process the information, "You see when one side will cause widespread suffering I will help the opposite side. Now this doesn't mean I take sides as the side I influence could be triumphant or could fall despite my help and should this happen it is simply meant to be and I will not interfere unless it is needed of me".

Itachi after processing the new revelations felt like he understood however his curiosity was piqued and he decided to ask "if I may Kami-sama, what was changed in my life?"

"I simply made sure Naruto Uzumaki crossed paths with you and Nagato Uzumaki" she said with a knowing smile and proceeded to sit at the table across the room.

Immediately Itachi understood what was implied she allowed him and Naruto to cross paths and this caused the crow with Shisui's eye to activate due to the preset orders to respond to his Sharingan and cast **Kotoamatsukami** upon him and implement him with the order to protect Konohagakure at all costs.

"Sit down Itachi-san as you and I must discuss your future and what you wish to do".

Itachi now that his curiosity was sated was happy to obliged and sat across from the Goddess as she was pouring them both some black tea. "Itachi-san I will be blunt you cannot stay in the Pure Lands as the Edo Tensei leaves a mark on your soul which forces you to be treated like someone who does not belong here and therefore you are pushed out and towards the Mortal Plane. However since nothing is there to anchor your soul you push back against the Pure Land and cause a flux and eventually like anything under enough pressure you will warp and the stress will fracture your soul forcing you to become a shell of your former self" she says with sympathy in her voice. Itachi was distraught and his face showed it "so I will never see my parents and be able to apologise and ask for forgiveness" he whispered as a single tear ran down his face. "I won't be able to see Shisui and tell him that his eye saved countless lives" he continued on as more cracks appeared in his emotional armour. While this was happening Kami simply watched feeling nothing but sadness for him, yet she knew would that this needed to happen as his feelings that were bottled up would hinder and hold him back from moving on properly.

' _I won't be able to show Izumi how much I truly cared about her and make things right between us'_

That thought broke him. The emotional armour he put on when he slaughtered his clan and refused to take off for eight long years shattered to show a twenty one year old man who was sporting wounds which hadn't been treated since he was fourteen, he simply sobbed without any reservation. "I'm so sorry Itachi-san" Kami said as she grasped his hand across the table, she decided she would let him release his pent up sorrow and that help him heal. A short while later Itachi was sitting in silence and so Kami decided to begin explaining to him what she can do "Itachi-san?" she asked carefully, after seeing him look at her she continued "as I said Itachi-san you cannot stay here but you are one of the few people in history that I have influenced and watched over, therefore I have decided to do what I have done for the other souls brought back by Kabuto Yakushi and Orochimaru over the years. I will send you to a different dimension"

Itachi sighs as he feels emotionally exhausted and straightens up "by dimension do you mean like Kakashi's **Kamui** or something different?"

"No I mean on a much wider scale as the Gods didn't just create one world we created hundreds however many were so different they couldn't exist near each other as many abilities could tear through thin walls and that would cause a war or genocide of a weaker race due to differences in technology and abilities. An example of this is your dimension and one a short distance away which contains a race capable of gaining strength every time they lose a battle as well as destroying planets and galaxies with their powers" Kami stated with a hint of mirth in her voice as she watched Itachi pale ever so slightly at the thought of this race.

"Therefore they are very far apart even **Kamui** is only entering a pocket dimension one billionth the size of the gap between the Elemental Nations and its neighbour dimension where I wish to send you" Kami continued " The dimension doesn't have a specific name however the world itself is very interesting and I believe you will be able to live your life as you see fit there, but I'm not going to ruin the surprise by giving away all the worlds secrets" she finished with a slight grin that reminded him of an endearing fox he knew once. Itachi thought about this new world and after some time had passed he sighed "Kami-sama while I appreciate the offer I'm struggling to see the point" Itachi stated with a hint of sadness "as once I awake in the world my body will begin its descent into sickness again and as much as I may want to I simply refuse to accept a gift knowing I will die before I can truly make the most of-" Itachi continued until he was interrupted by Kami gripping his hand "That will not be a concern Itachi because as I said earlier you were one of the few mortals I've ever truly bent the rules and helped and now I don't see the issue as you are already dead. Therefore I will be making a few adjustments to your body and abilities".

"First I will remove your terminal illness and raise your immune system to a special level so it will completely protect you from all terminal or severe diseases, such as the one you suffered in the Elemental Nations. However you will still be susceptible to common illnesses such as colds and deficiency based illnesses such as scurvy as you can easily take steps to prevent it." Kami says and seeing nothing but benefits from this Itachi simply bows his head in gratitude. "Due to this your body will change and this links into your second change. Your chakra reserves have drastically risen due to the amount of training you did during your time in the Akatsuki and now with no disease sapping your stamina you have received the stamina you would have had anyway. Now in this new world there are many different abilities but I will change your body so that should you learn or gain any of these new abilities there will be no hindering mutations to your Chakra Network or your Sharingan, you will also gain the potential to gain these abilities as you are not being born you are simply being sent there" Itachi once again seeing no issues gave his gratitude but decided to ask a question "will I speak their language?"

Yes you will and with the third and last change you will gain the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan-

"No! I will not take Sasuke's eyes from him". Itachi stated with a serious look on his face. Kami gave him look of humour mixed with slight disappointment "Oh dear me! Not you as well Itachi-san I thought you were a special case of Uchiha" she sighs, Kami lets out a giggle "I guess it's an Uchiha thing. You do realise when Sasuke took your eyes he replaced his own, which are the ones you need for you to gain your Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan so by that logic I don't 't understand why you Uchiha didn't just trade eyes with each other once both had the Mangekyo Sharingan"

Itachi felt like hitting his head off the table. _'STUPID, STUPID, STUPID, STUPID'_ he thought while an involuntary twitch developed in his eye.

'Dear me I've broken him' Kami thought as she reached across and gave Itachi a firm slap.

"Thank you" he said quietly slightly ashamed at his behaviour "You're welcome" she replied thoroughly amused "now you know the deal with the Eternal Mangekyo but a few things that are not on the Uchiha Tablet which over time have been proven to be facts of the transformation. First all of your abilities will require less Chakra to use and maintain as well as putting a lot less stress on your body, next your eyes will not degrade into blindness this I'm sure you knew and lastly your Sharingan abilities will be much stronger especially your **Susano'o** and you will have a new ability but even I don't know when and how it will manifest."

Kami proceeded to finish and that raised her left hand and sent out a stream of purple energy which left him feeling truly rejuvenated and strong both in body and mind but he knew his new changes would be complete once he was back in his body. Now all that was left to do was prepare for his new start.

 _ **Two Hours Later**_

Itachi checked himself over and felt his Sealing Scroll which contained a few clothes which were kept at his and Kisame's main base of operation in the Land of Grass. Covering his usual clothing was his Akatsuki cloak which he had grown fond of during his time, around his neck was his usual silver necklace and his vermillion ring was around his right ring finger. The only difference between his normal outfit while he was alive and now was that he had an ANBU issued Tanto across his lower back similar to the one when he was an ANBU Captain and he had decided against the painted nails as that was more trouble to do then it was worth. "Are you ready Itachi-san?" asked a soft voice Turning to look at Kami who was smiling at him and he nodded "yes Kami-sama I am and thank you for everything" Itachi said with bow and a small but genuine smile, "Do not thank me Itachi-san you earned this, Now good luck and live your life to the fullest" she replied while raising her hand, the familiar purple energy gathered in her palm and suddenly shot out engulfing Itachi and he felt a sharp tug at his consciousness.

 **_Rusukaina, Calm Belt,**

Eyes opened slowly, his head was throbbing and his eyes were struggling to focus, the first thing Itachi noticed was that he was in a jungle of some kind,

' _I wonder where I am'_ Itachi wondered as his vision became crisp and he found he could see even minute details on the plants and rocks surrounding him. This was something Itachi was happy to see as his eyesight had deteriorated over the years, this was especially true when his Mangekyo manifested **Amaterasu** when he was fighting the three tailed Jinchuuriki Yagura the Mizukage.

After taking enough time to appreciate his surroundings he decided to explore the area he was in and after scaling a large tree he realised he was on an island in the middle of a calm ocean, Itachi quickly noticed that there was no waves on the sea or wind.

' _This could be a problem'_ Itachi mused while sitting on a branch about fifty feet above the ground _' I may not be as knowledgeable of the sea as Kisame but I know that the sea is never completely calm, I may not be able to sail when I want to leave this island. Looks like I may be able to walk across the water but as I'm unsure of the remoteness of this island it could be dangerous'._ Itachi's thoughts were cut off by the sound of yelling and sensing the possibility of civilisation or at least a way off the island he decides to investigate.

 _A few minutes later..._

 _"What gives you the right to decide things like that Rayleigh!"_

 _Itachi arrived on a tree branch and crouched down to watch the scene in front of him. A old man with long white hair and glasses was being pulled by his nose towards the face of a beautiful woman, taking the time to inspect the scene further he saw an old lady trying to split them up while a group of women watched and cheered for their 'Snake Princess'. The group of women in questions were for a lack of better word... odd, their clothing was similar and they all carried bows with a quiver of arrows but it was their bodies which Itachi found strange. They were different to any females he had seen in his time in the Elemental Nations, while most were normal sized and quite attractive if Itachi was honest but there were a few who were disproportionate with giant heads and long legs appearing more like snakes then humans._

 _"Well Hancock if you truly want Luffy to become strong you cannot pamper him, it's unbecoming of a man who wishes to become the Pirate King" Rayleigh said in a stern tone. Just as he went to continue he noticed a new presence watching them, turning to face Itachi he yelled out "Why don't you come out of the tree young man!" Itachi jumped into the clearing much to the shock of the gathered Kuja pirates as well as Luffy and Hancock who simply hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings_

 _The Kuja Pirates quickly drew their bows and aimed arrows covered in Busoshoku Haki while Luffy settled into a stance prepared for a fight. Hancock on the other hand was livid that someone was on Rusakaina without her permission and was preparing to turn him to stone._

 _"How dare you trespass on this island!" Hancock growled with fury in her eyes "now you worthless man now I hope you are prepared to be turned to stone!"_

 _Itachi sighed softly, he really hated yelling and this woman seemed to enjoy it. Now normally Itachi is a peaceful person and will rarely make the first move but since he was in a new world and unsure of his surroundings he decided to make an exception, vanishing in a body flicker he appears before Hancock his Sharingan glaring into her eyes. Hancock, much to the shock of those present collapses onto the ground, seeing their empress knocked out the Kuja let their arrows fire at the stranger who was standing over Hancock. Quickly drawing a kunai Itachi promptly deflects the first arrow fired but to his surprise the kunai is knocked out of his hand and he is forced to substitute with a log at the edge of the clearing._

 _'They seem to be able imbue their weapons to make them stronger' Itachi deduced after watching the Haki spread over the tips of the arrows 'I believe the crows are still responding to my summons, I will need to deal with the group of women before I do anything else. Luckily the old man isn't getting involved I get an uneasy feeling from him and I believe I would have to go all out should he attack'._

 _Itachi deciding to try out his new body dashed at the Kuja, when the arrows were let fly at him he leaps and corkscrews between the first volley and continues onwards._ _'I'm quicker and more nimble it seems', once Itachi was within twenty feet of the pirates he bursts into crows all sporting the same eyes as him._

 _"What! Where is he?" yells out the snake like woman with green hair, the crows fly throughout the group and group back together to form Itachi. "What is happening?" screams the green haired snake woman as she watches the rest of her crew fall down, blood covering their bodies "you damn bastard! I'll kill you, I'll make you suffer!" yelled the woman as she slithered towards Itachi only to feel her muscles stiffen and darkness over take her..._ _'Sleep' she hears in her head as she blacks out_

 _ **Reality**_

 _Itachi walks away from the group of women who were passing out one by one, "I apologise for my actions sir" said Itachi looking towards Rayleigh "I'm afraid I just woke up here and I didn't feel like a drawn out conflict would have helped the matter"._

 _Rayleigh looks at the man in front of him and after a short moment lets out a loud laugh "well young man you certainly are in for an ear full once she wakes up" he says gesturing to the well endowed woman lay out on the floor, "My name is Rayleigh and the young man behind me is Luffy" he says gesturing to the teenager behind him in a straw hat, "so who are you? I've never seen you before either as a marine or on bounty poster and you're clearly strong enough seeing as you just took out a Shichibukai, her sisters and her crew in a matter of second. Just how did you do that? I've never seen a devil fruit which allows you to knock out people by simple eye contact" He asked_

 _"My name is Itachi Uchiha, I am unsure of where I am. I'm not from these parts" said Itachi sincerely_

 _"Hey!"_ _Luffy yells out interrupting Rayleigh from responding "are you a pirate? Where's your crew?" this question makes Itachi narrow his eyes as in the Elemental Nations pirates were simply bandits with better means of transport, filthy murderers and rapists who would kill a person as quickly as look at them. "No I'm not a pirate, are you both?" Itachi questions coolly while subtly unsealing a kunai under his sleeve._

 _"Luffy!" Rayleigh says loudly catching straw hat wearing teen's attention "go check on Hancock and the Kuja I want to have a talk with our new friend". Sulking, Luffy picks up Hancock and walks to check on the Kuja._

 _"He's a good kid you know so I'd appreciate you putting the blade away" Rayleigh says in a kind tone but heavy with authority which reminded Itachi of the Third Hokage, Itachi deciding to accept Rayleigh's request and have a civil conversation without the threat of violence from either sides._

 _"Now I'm going to presume that due to your hostility towards Luffy when he asked if you're a pirate that you've had some bad experiences towards them but while a lot are naturally violent and evil... even more of them are normal people who are considerate of people as long as they don't have ill intentions towards their crew or themselves, Luffy is a prime example of this as he would never hurt an innocent on purpose" Rayleigh explained as he looked towards the boy waving his hand in front of Hancock's face._

 _"I'm sorry for assuming Rayleigh-san, you see where I am from pirates are scum who pillage and raid helpless villages, they murder and rape as they please often selling their victims into slavery after they are finished with them; Now do you know of a way for me to leave this island?" Itachi asked. Rayleigh thought about this as the Kuja surely wouldn't give Itachi a lift off of the island and the young man doesn't look like he has the abilities needed to swim the calm belt safely._

 _"No I'm afraid as the Kuja are the only ones here with a ship capable of sailing the calm belt without wind or waves and can avoid being swarmed by Sea Kings, since you've made somewhat of a bad impression you're stuck here with me and Luffy so how about you join us as you seem like you are unsure of your surroundings and could use a helping hand" Rayleigh said after a moment of thought "I'm sure Luffy wouldn't mind extra company" he added_

 _Certain parts stuck in Itachi's mind such as Sea Kings and Calm Belt but he decided he would ask later as he felt there were more pressing matters "why are you both staying behind Rayleigh-san?"_

 _"Training that knuckle head so he doesn't die as soon as he lands on the first island in The New World, Tell me Itachi what do you know about Haki?"_

 _"Haki?" I've never heard of it" Itachi replied clearly confused but also interested. Rayleigh looked at the young man with surprise; '_ _that's not a big shock, I mean he did attempt to block the Kuja's arrows with just that strange blade_ _'_ _he thought._

 _"Well Itachi I think you should stay especially since you claim to not be from here, for all you know you could be from the start of Paradise or the four Blues. That would mean you are way out of your depth and I honestly couldn't let you go off on your own in a strange place and die. Especially on this island" Rayleigh says with a smile which yet again reminded Itachi of Lord Third "You can learn Haki with Luffy and once we are finished you and Luffy can travel on the Kuja ship as I will be there and I strongly doubt they will argue especially after you knocked all of them out"._

 _Itachi couldn't put his finger on it but he felt like he could trust Rayleigh. Maybe it was his similarity to the Third Hokage or it was how honest he had been up to this point; whatever it was Itachi knew Rayleigh had his best interest in heart and to go against that in a world he had just woken up in would be foolish and would almost definitely lead to his death. Seeing that Rayleigh was looking at him expectantly Itachi sighed and nodded._

 _"I accept your offer Rayleigh-san"._

 _Now explaining to Luffy hadn't been too difficult as the young captain was always happy to meet new people and the idea of a potentially new crewmate excited him greatly. Boa Hancock on the other hand was a completely different ball game as she wanted the stoic young man's head for in her words "crimes against the Snake Empress and her people" but all that translated to was "so I can sooth my bruised ego". Naturally Rayleigh had put his foot down and told Hancock to stop being a brat and admit that she attacked Itachi first and all he did was defend himself which in Rayleigh's humble opinion was absolutely hilarious to watch; especially since the Shichibukai are based off of their power or influence, something the Snake Empress was supposed to have in spades._

 _In the end Hancock conceded that Itachi could stay but decided to threaten both Rayleigh and Itachi so as to have the final say in the matter_

 _"if either of you mess up Luffy-kun's training or eat his food I'll make sure that you both suffer" Hancock says with a glare which would of made any lesser men crumble and wilt but it simply made the old man laugh and the intruder raise an eyebrow._

 _The Kuja all cheered for Luffy as they boarded their ship to depart but still sent glares at Itachi which of course were ignored as the raven haired man had just spotted a Sea King break the surface of the ocean a few hundred metres off the island._

 _'I'm going to just assume that is a Sea King...Kami how is the Kuja's ship going to make it past that creature'_ _Itachi thought slightly worried for the crew of women in front of him._ _'Rayleigh-san did say they can travel these waters without an issue so I suppose there isn't any danger unless one falls over board'._

 _After some more farewells. All of which were directed at Luffy. The Kuja departed leaving the three men alone on the island._

 _"Well come on you two, we're burning daylight" Rayleigh says as he turns and walks off into the jungle. Luffy turns and follows him after mumbling something about protecting his crew like Ace protected him, Itachi was going to ask him about this but Luffy ran into the jungle before he could but it didn't matter as there were two years to learn about this world and his companions._

 _Sighing and sparing one last look at the ocean, Itachi turns and walks after Rayleigh and Luffy_

 _'I hope you are safe Sasuke...'_

 _ **OKAY so there's chapter one and I hope you have enjoyed it and if you have any criticism or ideas feel free to review, just don't be a dick and flame for no reason at least have a point if you must. Now I must say this story will have some elements of romance, violence, loss and it will follow a slightly different plot as it will clearly need to with the addition of Itachi to the mix, this will include Luffy and co being slightly OOC especially Luffy but others will be affected as well. There will be new Devil Fruits Added and powers but all my fights and battles will be as logical as I can make them and if need be I can back them up with facts from either Anime/Manga, there won't be Itachi getting too OP and killing Yonkou or Admiral's without much struggle. Finally I won't respond to all reviews in the chapters since I don't want my word count falsely being inflated so if you want a reply from me feel free to PM me or ask me to message you in response however I will respond if there is a FAQ which will help people understand the story or myself better. Thanks for reading and I'll try to upload the next chapter within a few days**_

 _ **TheIrishSaiyan**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, this is the second chapter of Free To Fly honestly I'm really happy with the first chapter and so I had lots of ideas. Like I said last time feel free to review and criticise as you see fit just have an actual point to your critiques, also leave any suggestions you might have for the story and If I like it I'll use it and give you credit**

"Speech"

' _Thoughts'_

 **Jutsu/Techniques**

 _ **DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE OR NARUTO, NARUTO SHIPPUDEN OR BORUTO:**_ **NARUTO** _ **NEXT GENERATIONS THEY BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS EIICHIRO ODA AND MASHASHI KISHIMOTO.**_

 **Chapter 2: A New Member**

The sounds of combat could be heard from anywhere on the island and the presence of the combatants was enough to cause the weakest of animals to black out or flee. A bruised and cut Itachi flew backwards out of the bushes, he back flipped and managed to right himself and land on his feet. After a few seconds catching his breath he began to weave hand seals faster than most could make out, holding the Tiger seal he took a deep breath.

" **Fire Release: Grand Fireball"** Itachi called before exhaling a fireball of gigantic proportions which burned through the trees separating him and his target, in the distance Itachi saw the explosion but didn't drop his guard.

" **Gum-Gum: Jet Pistol!"**

Narrowly dodging thanks to his Sharingan managing to track the figure darting around the clearing Itachi took the time to appreciate how much Luffy's Second Gear had improved but he still wasn't using all his potential.

Dodging a few more blows, Itachi countered by imbuing his forearms with **Armament Haki** and waited for Luffy to over extend a punch which he punished by pulling him in and chopping him on either side of his throat effectively cutting off his airways. With Luffy temporarily disorientated Itachi drove a Haki imbued knee into his gut which curled the young captain up, to finish up the combo Itachi rolled over Luffy's back and once his feet touched the ground he grabbed him by the scruff of the collar and threw him into a tree which snapped at the force of the impact.

Itachi not waiting for Luffy to get his bearings or recover began rolling through a string of hand seals. **"Water Release: Water Bullet"** Itachi called as he spat a medium sized ball of water at Luffy prompting the rubber man to dart to the side. Luffy landed and rolled until he was a decent distance from Itachi, Luffy was catching his breath and trying to come up with a plan.

' _I can't beat him in a straight fist fight'_ Luffy thought sullenly _'I'll just have to try rushing him with speed then'._ Luffy quickly re-entered Gear Second. His Gear Second state was activated now by using his arm as a pump instead of his legs which made it quicker to activate as well as generally safer to use since his body isn't starving itself of nutrients. As soon as steam began to leak out of his body Luffy darted straight at Itachi before utilising **Shave** to appear behind Itachi.

" **Gum-Gum: Jet Bazooka"** Luffy yelled as his arms smashed into Itachi's back driving him into the ground. Luffy grinned as he knew he'd finally won a spar against his stoic friend; however his joy turned to horror as the Itachi beneath him suddenly glowed.

' _OH CRAP'_ Luffy thought as he was blown away by the force of Itachi's **Exploding Clone.** He flew backwards in a daze barely registering the fact his jacket and one of his sandals had been destroyed, Luffy eventually game to a halt when he hit a slow flowing river which snatched away his remaining sandal but washed some of the soot and dirt from his body. As Luffy re emerged from the river he stumbled his way to the bank until he dropped to his knees and spat out some water. Once he had caught his breath he looked up and was met with a brutal kick by Itachi to his chin which lifted the captain up by around a metre, while this may have looked painful it in fact did very little damage as he had forgone Haki to at least limit some of the damage he was causing his friend.

' _Sorry Luffy-kun, you lose this time'_ Itachi thought as he activated his **Susanoo's** skeletal form and caught the rubber man as he shot upwards lifting him up to look face to face with Itachi.

"Surrender Luffy-kun I don't wish to have to hurt you, especially since this is just a spar" Itachi said while subtly applying a Genjutsu to the struggling Luffy more susceptible to suggestion **.** Unfortunately Luffy was used to the mind control powers of Itachi's eyes and managed to hold onto his will to fight.

"No" Luffy yells defiantly as he continues to struggle "I'm going to use my last technique and when I beat you Itachi you will join my crew!"Freeing one of his arms he imbued it with Haki and bit down on it blowing air into his muscles.

"Muscle Balloon" Luffy Yelled out as his arm began to expand massively. Seeing this Itachi knew what was coming _'He ignored Gear Third and went straight to Fourth. I didn't expect this to be such a serious fight'_ Itachi thought as his Susano'o proceeded to cover itself in more and more armour in preparation for what's to come. Seeing that Luffy had almost finished his preparations Itachi threw Luffy like he would a kunai simply to create distance, as soon as Luffy was a decent distance Itachi's Sharingan spun into his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan which was his old Mangekyo with the same pattern encompassing the space between the curves and Sasuke's Mangekyo in the middle.

" _ **GEAR FOURTH: BOUNCE MAN!"**_

The yell echoed over the island causing every animal within a mile radius fled towards the presence of Rayleigh in the hope he would protect them. Now Itachi may have been confident he could defend himself; not win but defend himself, _'I hope I don't have to use my newest technique I can't maintain it and if it fails I'm going to suffer for it'_ Itachi thought as his Susano'o drew the Yata Mirror and manifested a spear since he couldn't use the Totsuka Blade without sealing his friend.

Looking into the distance Itachi prepared himself for the oncoming storm that was Gear Fourth, He realised even though it wasn't his strong suit he would need to utilise his Haki on a large scale if he wanted to withstand Luffy's blows for a long period. Suddenly his instincts went haywire as he had a slight idea of what was coming; in response to this Itachi raised his Yata mirror and anchored his Susano'o with Chakra. This premonition was proven true as Luffy burst through the trees at a rocket pace, Luffy's Gear Fourth was borderline terrifying if Itachi was truthful since it towered over him clipping around ten foot and it was constantly emitting steam out of his body and mouth; his body was covered in Armament Haki and it formed a flame like pattern around his chest scar. To someone who was foolish or arrogant it might look funny as Luffy can't stay still and is forced to keep bouncing on the spot, luckily Itachi was neither of these things and honestly if someone could feel the Conquerors Haki leaking out subconsciously and still disregarded the threat before them then they deserved what they got.

Now in a normal situation where Itachi wasn't on the receiving end of a bombardment by Luffy he would have taken the time to appreciate a few things. Such as Luffy flying using the propulsion from his kicks or the fact Luffy was using Haki in conjunction with his Devil Fruit to keep all of the benefits but nullify the negatives, but as we all know this wasn't a normal situation and Itachi most certainly was on the receiving end of Luffy's bombardment.

" _ **GUM-GUM: KONG GUN"**_ Luffy roared as he compresses his fist into his forearm and unleashed a punch that Itachi could say without a single doubt that without the Yata Mirror he would have knocked him out. Itachi barely has time to regain his footing when Luffy vanishes, his limited Observation Haki was going haywire not able to truly lock onto the rubber mans location; suddenly the back of his Susano'o cracks and then shatters to pieces exposing Itachi to Luffy and Itachi simply tried to cover his spine in Haki.

" _ **GUM GUM: RHINO SCHNEIDER"**_ Luffy yells as he sends a pair of flying kicks out of compressed knees. Itachi cuts his losses and substitutes which causes the Susano'o to dissolve since no one was powering it, _'I can't fight Luffy in a one on one when he's in Gear Fourth so I'm going to have to use my new_ _ **Tsukiyomi**_ _technique'_ Itachi thinks to himself as he prepares for the technique which will leave him unconscious and after realising he will need to make eye contact he prepares himself to take a blow from Luffy to accomplish this.

Itachi reappears in the centre of the clearing which at this point was a wasteland. ' **Armament: Hardening'** Itachi mentally calls out imbuing his torso and back with Haki. Sensing Luffy dashing straight at him his left Sharingan rotates into its complete Eternal Mangekyo Form, as soon as it is finished Luffy appears in front of him and makes eye contact but not before Luffy's Kong Gun makes contact

" **Mangekyo Secret Technique: First circle of hell- Limbo"**

" **GUM GUM: KONG GUN"**

As Itachi flies backwards the last thing he see's before the darkness washes over him is Luffy immobilised.

Itachi opened his eyes and quickly realised he only had vision in one, this wasn't that big of a shock to him however as his new techniques came with a price. Sitting up he looked around to see that he was inside a cave and there was a fire roaring in the centre, Itachi knew he was in the cave that Rayleigh, Luffy and himself were using as a home while on Rusakaina.

Inspecting himself over his torso was heavily wrapped in bandages and so was his left arm and right leg, the injuries were at this point mostly healed which caused Itachi to believe he had been out for more than a week. While Itachi was musing over his injuries Rayleigh walked into the room with a plate of food.

"Ah Itachi-kun I'm happy you're awake" Rayleigh says as he sets the plate in front of Itachi "how are you feeling?"

"I am fine Rayleigh-sensei" Itachi says as he begins to eat the food his body had been screaming for.

"Well that blow certainly didn't make you more talkative" Rayleigh mutters letting out a mirthful chuckle. "So you don't really seem too concerned about your lack of sight in your left eye Itachi-kun, why is that?"

Itachi responds by opening his left eye showing a Mangekyo Sharingan with a hugely dilated pupil and two tomoe on opposite sides which one disappears before Rayleigh's eyes; "my eyesight will return soon Sensei, this was simply a backlash from using a new technique" he says as he closes his left eye once more. Rayleigh watches as Itachi finishes his food and begins to quietly meditate but Rayleigh's curiosity got the better of him as he decided to ask a question which he had been curious about since Luffy's and Itachi's fight

"Itachi-kun what was the technique you used on Luffy? Since it robbed you of your eyesight and briefly made Luffy unresponsive until his Gear Fourth ran out" Rayleigh asks which causes Itachi to sigh and prepare his explanation. Itachi was just thankful Luffy wasn't in the room as he would have to dumb it down considerably and still explain it ten times.

"Well Rayleigh-sensei the technique was one of my new Mangekyo Abilities; There are nine in total and are named The Nine Circles of Hell, Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud and finally Treachery. They are all derived from my usual Mangekyo Sharingan abilities - Tsukiyomi and Amaterasu" Itachi explained as Rayleigh listened unwilling to interrupt the young man. "The one I used on Luffy-kun was the First Circle: Limbo which when I made eye contact shut off his consciousness until a pre determined event takes place which in this case was his Gear Fourth running out" Itachi looks up to see if Rayleigh was following and a slight nod from the old man gave him his answer.

"So why did you lose sight in your left eye?" Rayleigh asked thoroughly intrigued by the ability which made Gear Fourth Luffy turn into a drooling mess.

"That is the cost of the technique however the reason I have been blinded for so long is because I couldn't charge it before I used it on Luffy-kun simply because he was putting so much pressure on me, should I have been able to charge the Genjutsu for enough time I most likely would of been blind for a day at most" Itachi finished.

Rayleigh noticed how Itachi used the word Genjutsu instead of illusions and realised Itachi was talking about something from the Elemental Nations. Itachi had explained and showed him his past using his Sharingan around three months into their training; while Rayleigh may have originally had doubts he began to believe the young man especially since he could do things such as walk on water and up trees yet still swim fine.

"How many of the Circles can you use effectively Itachi-kun?" Rayleigh asked as he was slightly concerned for the young man's health especially since the first one left him blind and bedridden for a week. Itachi pondered the question as not all of the Circles were battle oriented and had low risk.

"I believe I can use around five effectively, however I might be able to use more if I don't have to worry about the repercussions" the Uchiha said after pondering the question for a few moments. If Itachi was being honest he could use all of the Circles but many of them would leave him extremely vulnerable and therefore were for last resorts.

"I must say Itachi-kun; you have progressed incredibly well in the nine months we've been on this island. Your Observation Haki gives you near perfect ability to predict opponents, especially when used with your Sharingan. That being said your Armament Haki could use some work as you still struggle to mitigate the damage to internal organs as seen when Luffy's Kong Gun hit you" Rayleigh explained to Itachi who never looked saddened or irritated at being criticised

"I understand Rayleigh-Sensei, I will admit I am struggling when it comes to using Armament Haki defensively, I do not seem to be able to absorb damage to my organs like I can with my skin and muscles" Itachi admitted, he was still in pain from his battle with Luffy.

Rayleigh smiled at his second pupil, _'Itachi-kun is able to see his weaknesses and not lose any drive or confidence, honestly its amazing' he thought._

"Well Itachi that's why we're here for another year" Rayleigh said warmly before leaving Itachi to get some rest. After Rayleigh closed the makeshift door to the quarters Itachi leaned over and doused the light source but not before wondering about how the Fourth Shinobi War has gone and if Sasuke, Naruto and Konoha were okay.

' _Please be okay Sasuke, you're the future of our clan and with Naruto's help you'll lead the Elemental Nations into a new age'_

 **One year, three months later - Sabaody Archipelago**

The day of the Straw Hat's reunion had arrived and two figures could be seen walking slowly through one of the many shopping groves. Both of the men were wearing cloaks but in different styles, one was a simply hooded fur cape which slightly covered his arms, he was also shorter in stature then his companion however he was carrying a backpack which was twice his size. The other man was wearing a black full body cloak which was adorned in red clouds as well as wearing a conical straw hat with two sheets of cloth covering his face.

As they proceed to walk through the grove the sound of a gunshot echoes out and as they turn to look at the source of the sound they see a young woman hit the ground with a small pool of blood forming around her shoulder.

"Don't get involved, her injuries aren't serious and simple medical attention will suffice" the taller one said to his friend and proceeded to walk on slipping through the crowd with ease. The second man tried following his friends example however his backpack knocked someone to ground, unfortunately the person that was knocked to the ground was the assailant of the woman who was interrupted as he tried to shoot the boyfriend of the woman who was shot.

The taller man looked back, lifting his hat showing a pair of red eyes with three black tomoe surrounding the pupil and sighed at the commotion his friend was causing.

' _Luffy, what are you doing...' Itachi thought_

As Itachi began making his way towards Luffy he hears a gunshot and not long after watches as the four people surrounding Luffy collapse to the ground. Itachi grabs Luffy and drags him by his cloak; "Luffy-kun we need to leave the area, I understand that you didn't start that fight but Marines surely heard the gunshots" Itachi explained as they hurried through the crowd.

"Hey Itachi, that guy has a four hundred million Berry bounty" Luffy said completely lost in thought which wasn't as rare since he met Itachi, "He must of been pretty weak since he passed out from a weak blast of my Haki, most of the animals on the island would of ignored it" Luffy finished with a frown. The two of them continue onwards further into the grove.

A few hours later there was a gathering of pirates in a clearing between two groves, the atmosphere was tense with all the rookies who had made it to the end of the first half of the Grand Line known as 'Paradise'. There were a few individuals who stood out from the rest of the rabble but all of them were relatively weak in comparison to Luffy and Itachi so they paid little notice to them; naturally all the rookies gathered in one place unsurprisingly drew the attention of the Marines. It didn't escape Itachi's notice that the person who Luffy knocked out was killed by the leader of the marines who used the flat end of his axe to fracture his skull. "YOU'RE NOT STRAW HAT LUFFY, YOU SCUMBAG!" yelled the Marine; "PX-5 who is this imposter" he asked looking at the Pacifista

A giant of a man stepped forward and began staring at the downed man before speaking in a soft but cold robotic voice "Scan complete. Target identified as 'Triple Tongue' Demaro Black, Twenty three million Berry bounty". This revelation caused an uproar among the pirates who realised they had been tricked by someone with a miniscule bounty.

Luffy and Itachi were preparing to flee the area when two lasers hit the ground at the feet forcing them to leap away, "Hey I have lots of lunches in this backpack you jerk" Luffy yelled glaring at a large marine, Luffy's cloak had flew off in the blast along with Itachi's hat which revealed both of them to the crowd of people.

"THATS THE REAL STRAWHAT LUFFY!" all the pirates in attendance yelled in utter shock.

"Captain Sentomaru" one of the Marines said while shaking uncontrollably "that's Straw Hat Luffy, how are we meant to beat him? He fought in the War of The Best!" the Marine cried out with many nodding their heads and backing away.

"Don't worry men we were prepared to capture the real Straw Hats anyway" yells a marine which boosted morale which was only intensified when Sentomaru decided to initiate the attack.

"PX-5, PX-9 ATTACK STRAW HAT AND HIS FRIEND, HE MUST BE A NEW MEMBER SO DON'T LET EITHER OF THEM ESCAPE!"

Beams of light were fired at Luffy by one of the Pacifista's which prompted him to simply move his head slightly in the opposite direction.

"Too slow" Luffy remarks as he raises his arm and the skin forms a pump with compresses quickly into his body, " **Gear Second** " Luffy says as he vanishes from the spot he was once occupying and reappears above the Pacifista.

" **Gum-Gum: Jet Pistol!"**

The Pacifista's head smashes into the ground from Luffy's Haki infused punch causing a crater of around twenty metres to form. During this fight no one noticed Itachi vanish from sight and reappear behind the PX-9 sent to attack him, Itachi's eyes spun until they formed his **Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan**.

' _Susano'o'_ Itachi thought as a ribcage made of an ethereal orange substance formed around Itachi which seemed pointless until a giant arm sprouted out of it which impaled the Pacifista and proceeded to tear it in half.

"LUFFY!" two separate shouts echoed in the clearing and once Luffy saw the people who the voices belonged to he began to grin uncontrollably and laugh, "ZORO, SANJI IT'S BEEN SO LONG" Luffy yelled.

"Let's get out of here Luffy everyone's waiting at the ship for you" Sanji said as he stood in front of his captain.

"By the way you're ninth" Zoro said as Sanji yells at him for repeatedly bringing it up. Luffy was so happy to see his friend he almost forgot about the situation they were in. As he looked around and saw that they were practically surrounded.

"Luffy-kun" Itachi called out as he formed from a flock of crows that appeared in the space between the Marines and the newly reunited monster trio "go on ahead I will hold them off"

"Itachi you better hurry up and catch up or else I'm going to kick your ass" Luffy yelled as he span and ran with Zoro and Sanji at his sides

"Luffy who was that?" Zoro asked as he looked back at the man facing around a hundred marines who were all of competent levels

"That's the newest crewmate ShiShiShiShiShi" Luffy chuckles as they sprint off toward the grove hiding the Sunny. Luffy didn't even bother looking behind because he knew that Itachi would be right behind them.

 _ **With Itachi**_

As soon as Itachi knew that his captain and new crewmates were out of the vicinity he released a breath and began gathering Chakra in his left Sharingan, Itachi was happy he hadn't used any Chakra heavy moves and had decided to remain out of combat for as long as he had as the technique he was preparing would incapacitate him if he had three quarters or less of his Chakra reserves.

"You must be very brave to sacrifice yourself like this" Sentomaru said with a hint of respect however it disappeared quickly when he sneered "Then again you have no reputation... Itachi was it? So I suppose Straw Hat decided you were the weak link and let you take the fall"

Itachi for his part ignored the remarks as they were trying to provoke him so he made mistakes and simply focused more Chakra into his left eye; _'Just a small amount left'_ Itachi thought as Sentomaru continued his mocking of what he thought was a low rank member of the Straw Hats.

"I don't suppose you will make it to the New World with your crew... If anything I'm doing you a favour since someone like you would be dead within five minutes" Sentomaru chuckled while locking eyes with Itachi as he picked up his axe and began to stride towards the young man in front of him only to stop after a few steps.

The Marines were confused by this naturally and began to crack some jokes now that the 'bigger threats' had left and all that was in front of them was a low level grunt who would crack after a few seconds in combat; unfortunately their jokes were cut short when blood erupted from Sentomaru's mouth and Itachi was no longer standing ten metres away but was directly in front of him with a Haki imbued elbow in his gut.

As Sentomaru dropped to the ground unconscious the remaining battalion of Marines all stare at Itachi as he looks up and opens his left eye releasing a small wave of energy which was similar to Conquerors Haki but not as dominant.

" **Mangekyo Secret Technique- Fifth Circle of Hell: Anger"**

As soon as the words left his mouth violence erupted, a Marine turned and shot his comrade next to him in the head but was then knocked to the ground by another who brutally beat him to death by using his rifle as a club.

Left and right Marines turned on each other and murdered each other brutally even attacking some of the captured pirates. Itachi collapsed to one knee as his eye blurred and burned, suddenly a hand found his shoulder and he looked up to see Rayleigh smiling down at him.

" I understand what you mean now when you said some Circles leave you vulnerable Itachi-kun" Rayleigh says as he slings Itachi's arm around his neck and vanish utilising Shave to cover distance between them and the Sunny.

 _ **Meanwhile on the Thousand Sunny**_

"Who are we waiting for Luffy?" Nami asked as she grew increasingly concerned about the cannon balls which were flying overhead and being deflected by different crew members.

"We need to wait for someone Nami" Luffy explains as his expands like a balloon to repel four cannonball back to the respective ships, Nami just sighs and turns just in time to see a cannon ball fly past Luffy and the others who were busy with other attacks, the ball was heading straight toward Robin who had her back turned.

"ROBIN LOOK OUT" Nami screams and as Robin turns with wide eyes she sees a flash of red appear in front of her.

Two men were standing there; one was an old man who was grinning at Luffy. The other one was a Young man of around Zoro's height was covered in red ethereal energy which had formed a ribcage and a single arm and hand within which was a crushed cannon ball

"Hey Rayleigh you brought Itachi" Luffy yells out as he deflects another cannonball before rushing over

"No Luffy I just ran into Itachi on the way here, I came to say goodbye and wish you luck" Rayleigh said with a large grin similar to Luffy's own.

The rest of the crew at this point had gathered and were wondering who the two were. "Hey Luffy who are these guys" Usopp asks completely forgetting that it was Rayleigh who saved Keimi two years back.

"Well this is Rayleigh my teacher, you met him two years ago" Luffy says as realisation dawns on Usopp. "Well who is the other person since he saved Robins life" Nami asked looking at the figure as the energy begins to evaporate showing off his features "well you see guys this is our new crew mate" Luffy laughs as Itachi's face was completely unveiled which caused Chopper and Usopp to scream about how cool his red eyes were, Luckily the commotion raised by their yelling allowed her to hide a very pronounced blush from all but Robins watchful eyes.

"GUYS, MEET OUR TENTH CREW MEMBER... ITACHI UCHIHA"

 **Well that's a wrap for this chapter, I tried my hand at my first ever fight scene and original technique (which will be explained in detail later in the story) so sorry if they are awful, clichéd etc but like they say practice makes perfect so bare with me.**

 **Lastly I'd like to say thank you to all the great feedback it was amazing to read and see so much positive and constructive feedback so thank you and I hope you'll stick with this till the end**

 **P.S sorry for any bad spelling or punctuation it's kind of hard to keep track when you are typing quickly. I just hope it didn't ruin the story for anyone**

 **Till Next Time**

 **TheIrishSaiyan**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys!**

 **Here is the third instalment of Free to fly and I just want to thank you guys for all the support this story has received so far, honestly it's really appreciated and I hope I can keep it up for you guys.**

 **Now I just want to quickly address a few things which may become a problem later on; first Itachi is a freaking hard character to keep from being OP like seriously so to compensate and make things easier for myself I came up with the Circles of Hell technique which is separated nine different circles/techniques however they are all ridiculous and will likely be a trump card or something to get Itachi out of a bad situation. I honestly felt like taking inspiration from Dante's Inferno was a good idea since Luffy's three lieutenants: Zoro, Sanji and now Itachi all have demonic based techniques; Zoro has the Asura Kyutoryu, Sanji has his Diable Jambe and now Itachi has the Circles of Hell. Lastly Itachi's techniques will always incapacitate him until he trains with them extensively and even then they will take a toll, this is simply to stop him from running through everyone and hard carrying the Straw Hats all the way to Raftel.**

 **Anyway enough of explaining, onto the story!**

"Speech"

' _Thoughts'_

 **Jutsu/Techniques**

 _ **DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE OR NARUTO, NARUTO SHIPPUDEN OR BORUTO:**_ **NARUTO** _ **NEXT GENERATIONS THEY BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS EIICHIRO ODA AND MASHASHI KISHIMOTO.**_

 **Chapter 3: Submersion**

Cannonballs flew overhead as the Straw Hats were all gathered on the deck of the Thousand Sunny. Unbeknownst to them certain mentors were preventing Marines across the entire archipelago from advancing on their position. Itachi, who had dropped Susano'o and deactivated his Sharingan, was quickly mobbed by Chopper and Usopp who began introducing themselves to their new crewmate. Nami rushed over to Robin and began to make sure she was ok and was about to pull her into their shared room to discuss the events when Luffy began issuing orders.

"Oi Zoro! Brook! Release the sails!" Luffy yells as Rayleigh leaps back towards the land of Grove 42.

The two swordsmen quickly scale the mast and cut the knots binding the sails. This causes the ship to begin to sink under the water due to the resin coating, which had been applied by Rayleigh shortly after he had left the Kujas while they were helping Luffy and Itachi finish their disguises. Itachi hadn't been expecting this to happen especially since the main thing you don't want a ship to do is sink. Luffy and everyone seemed ecstatic that it was happening and Rayleigh wasn't concerned either as he was waving from the shore; Chopper seemed to notice Itachi's confusion and got his attention.

"Uhh Itachi-san are you okay?" Chopper asked rather shyly as he was somewhat nervous of the man who made such an awesome entrance.

Itachi looked down towards the voice and saw a small deer which was currently looking up at him with a slightly nervous look in his eyes; crouching down to Chopper's height he spoke quietly

"Deer-san why is no one concerned with the ship sinking"

' _I can't believe someone realised I'm a Reindeer and not a Raccoon Dog'_ Chopper thought happily and was about to do his happy dance when he realised Itachi was looking at him expecting an answer.

"Oh don't worry we are going to Fishman Island and since its at the bottom of the ocean we needed to have the Sunny coated in a special resin so we can sail underwater" Chopper explain to Itachi which allowed him to make sense of the situation, "I understand Deer-san thank you... if I may ask another question, How are you speaking? I was unaware Deer could speak to humans" Itachi asked as he and Chopper walk across the deck towards Luffy who was chatting with some of the other crewmembers.

"Oh I ate the Human-Human Devil Fruit and it let me do things humans can do like speak and understand complex stuff like medicine which is why I'm the ship's doctor" Chopper said with pride.

"I see and does everyone here have specific roles or is it just certain people" Itachi said thoroughly interested in his new companions and eager to learn their names and roles.

"Well Luffy is our Captain but you already know that, Zoro is the Swordsman of the ship and he's pretty much the Vice Captain but it's not an official thing he was just the second crewmember" Chopper says pointing at the green haired man with three swords who was currently talking with Usopp about how much he had changed over the two years.

"Next we have Sanji who is the Cook of the crew and he's kind of a pervert or at least that's what Nami sometimes calls him and Brook" Chopper continues as he points towards the well dressed blonde who as soon Choppers finished his flew backwards from a nose bleed which reminded Itachi of a certain Sannin. Itachi smirks as he nods to Chopper and waits for him to continue.

"The Shipwright is Franky, he actually built the ship from scratch and he's a robot which is AWESOME" Chopper yells with stars in his eyes, seeing this makes Itachi chuckle softly. He had already decided he liked this little reindeer and hoped he got on with the others as well as he did Chopper.

"Usopp is our Sniper and he's done so many awesome things like fighting Sea Kings and defeating whole armies on his own" Chopper continues pointing out the long nosed man who Itachi had labelled as something of a liar but still seemed like a friendly person. "For some reason Nami and Robin say I shouldn't believe everything he says but Usopp wouldn't lie; anyway the next person is Brook and he's our Musician, he's also our second swordsman and ate a devil fruit like me, Luffy and Robin".

Itachi looks at the person Chopper was pointing out as Brook as was shocked for the second time today; Brook was in fact a skeleton... a well dressed skeleton but a skeleton nonetheless. _'Sweet Kami how is he moving with no muscles and he is drinking tea...HOW!?"_ Itachi thought erratically but still thankful he had trained his features to remain impassive when he joined the Akatsuki. Itachi was forced out of his thoughts by Chopper pulling him towards the two members Chopper had yet to introduce.

Itachi looked ahead and saw that Chopper was leading him towards the two women of the crew. The first thing Itachi noticed was they were gorgeous, easily the two most attractive women he had seen and Itachi had spent extended time around Boa Hancock.

"Itachi meet Nami and Robin" Chopper said as he stood next to Nami who picked him up and sat him in her lap. Itachi looked at the two women individually; Robin was for lack of a better word, radiant. She was a few years older than Itachi which the young Uchiha could tell not by her face but by the way she carried herself. Her features were sharper then Nami's and bright blue eyes which were filled with mirth and confidence. She gave off an aura of someone who was knowledgeable as well as strong in her own right which Itachi found to be refreshing. This was because Itachi had his fair share of fan girls throughout his life even during his time in the Akatsuki and none of them were memorable in the slightest, all they cared about was their appearance and dating the "coolest" Shinobi in the village. Robin's body only helped her already memorising aura and gorgeous face; she had curves in the right places and very large breasts which were covered by a small blue jacket which had been zipped up halfway and she had a long sari like skirt covering her long legs.

Her friend Nami was also an extremely well endowed woman who had flowing orange hair, a beautiful face with softer features and bright brown eyes. Much like Robin she had pronounced curves which would make any man flustered; Nami was around Itachi's age or perhaps a year or two younger, another thing which caught Itachi's eye was her dress sense which was just as revealing as Robins except in a more direct way. Nami was dressed in a small green bikini top which wasn't doing the best job of covering her up, a pair of jeans which reached her ankles and heeled sandals which put her slightly taller than Luffy. Now despite his stoic exterior which he had developed in order to do the tasks such as killing his clan and hunting innocent Jinchuriki to capture them and extract their power, Itachi was attracted to women despite what Kisame might say... asshole. This attraction to women however was causing him considerable trouble as he was struggling from keeping his eyes from drifting downwards as they both greeted Itachi and began conversing with him and Chopper.

"So you're our newest crew member huh? I wonder how long Luffy pestered you for" Nami says with giggle which caused Robin and Chopper to giggle as well as they recall their captain's antics over their journey

"Luffy-kun repeatedly asked me throughout our two year training trip, he would even wake me up in the night to ask me so I simply agreed to join to save myself the headache" Itachi said as the others laughed at the persistence of their captain. Robin then decides to speak about the events which transpired before their departure.

"I don't believe I thanked you for saving me Uchiha-san so thank you" Robin says with a sincere smile.

"It was no problem. What kind of person would I be if I let you get hurt when I could prevent it?" Itachi replies with a small smile of his own which makes Robin blush lightly. Itachi failed to notice this as out the corner of his eye he sees Luffy waving him over; sighing to himself Itachi excuses himself and approached Luffy who was speaking to Zoro and Sanji.

 **With Robin, Chopper and Nami**

"So what do you think of Itachi" Chopper asks absentmindedly from Nami's lap, Robin looks at Nami and sees a wolfish grin directed at her; already guessing what she was implying Robin forces down a blush and answers Chopper.

"He seems really nice and he is so polite" Robin say's to Chopper while trying to ignore the smirk on Nami's face.

Nami thankfully didn't have anything to add to the discussion and settled for smiling sweetly at Robin and nodding her head in agreement. Chopper who is completely oblivious to the two women's wordless dispute decides to weigh in his opinion of Itachi.

"He seems really nice and I hope he likes all of us; I wonder how he met Luffy though?"

"Maybe he fought in the War of the Best or was freed from Impel Down" Nami suggests but none of them were sure as they pondered in silence.

 **Back with Itachi**

"Luffy-kun you wished to speak with me?" Itachi asks as he approached his captain who was speaking with Zoro and Sanji.

"Yeah Itachi this is Zoro and Sanji" Luffy says with a grin as the aforementioned crewmembers nod their heads and Sanji leans over to offer Itachi a handshake which was accepted readily. _'They are the two Luffy constantly told me were the strongest besides him... I can feel that this is true however Luffy is leaps and bounds ahead of both of them'_ he thought as he looked at the Chef and Swordsman in front of him.

"Luffy-kun, where are we going?" Itachi asks as he peered into the dark abyss surrounding the ship "we have been simply descending further and further into the ocean"

"Oh that's because Fishman Island is reeeeeeeeeeeally far down and Nami says we haven't sunk enough yet" Luffy explains as he points at Nami who had moved to the helm of the ship.

While Luffy, Itachi, Sanji and Zoro were speaking Usopp and Franky approached and introduced themselves to Itachi. After the introductions Luffy begins to share the food which Hancock had made for him.

"Hey I wonder where Hatchan is..."Usopp says curiously between mouthfuls of food "I swear he was supposed to guide us to Fishman Island".

Franky puts down his food and stands up, clearing his throat he gains everybody's attention. "Everyone" he says loudly "Hatchan isn't here because he was hurt real bad when he and Duval tried to protect the Sunny from different threats so he went to recover at Fishman Island" he explains much to the shock of everyone.

"He's okay guys he recovered but there's more, that all happened six months after we were separated but one year later the Marines tried to capture the Sunny but it was protected by one more person... Bartholomew Kuma" Franky finished.

"WHAT!?" the crew yells in unison, only Luffy, Robin and Itachi didn't react to the news. "Myself and Luffy-kun were made aware of this by Rayleigh-sensei; however I do not know this Kuma except that he was working for the Revolutionaries and separated you for your own safety" Itachi replies and Luffy nods agreeing with him.

"I knew because I spent extended time during the two years with the Revolutionaries" Robin explains next when attention is turned to her lack of reaction. While the discussion was happening Nami noticed the ship had sunk to the correct depth and rushes to the helm.

"Guys we are about to enter the Euphotic Zone" Nami says as she slightly changes the direction of the ship. While this was happening Brook who had been watching the fish while tuning his instrument notices something following them.

"Luffy-san there's a ship behind us!" Brook yells as the crew rush the rear of the ship to see a familiar monster pulling a ship which was double the size of the Sunny. "Hey it's that cow from Arlong Park" Zoro states as everyone remembers Mohmoo. The cow in question closes the gap between them and the Sunny but once it sees Luffy and the crew it begins to panic. The new ship's crew came into view, now while no one knew them by face Itachi and Luffy had in fact passed the pair when they were walking by the group of pirates who were being recruited by the fake Straw Hats.

The two men were 'Wet Hair' Caribou and 'Blood Splatterer' Coribou who were the newest generation of rookies who followed the tradition of being 'Supernovas' or pirates with bounties over One Hundred Million Berry. As their ship pulled level Caribou leapt across the short gap to land on the Sunny's deck unfortunately Mohmoo had locked eyes with Luffy which caused him to remember the events of Arlong Park and swim away dragging the Caribou Pirates away and leaving Caribou himself stranded and surrounded.

The Straw Hats looked at the man in front of them as his bloodthirsty grin turned into a look of abject horror as he watched his crew be pulled away by Mohmoo. Caribou cursed and turned to his captors but was knocked off his feet by a Haki covered kick from Sanji; as the Supernova tried to rise to his feet he was pinned by Zoro's Shusui.

"Who are you and why did you try to board our ship? Zoro asked as the man squirmed on the ground

"I'm just a low level member of the Caribou Pirates. We want an alliance with you!" Caribou yelled hoping they believed him. Itachi looked at Luffy who responded with a nod, with his unspoken question answered Itachi strode to Caribou and kneeled looking into his eyes.

" **Genjutsu: Sharingan"** Itachi whispered as his eyes peered straight into Caribou's and after around twenty seconds his eyes rolled into his head and he passed out, Itachi stood up and sighed before turning and looking towards Luffy.

"Luffy-kun, he is 'Wet Hair' Caribou and the joint captain of the Caribou Pirates, he planned to ally with you and then kill everybody on board once he had gained your trust" Itachi said which caused a collective gasp and sigh from Zoro and Sanji, Luffy on the other hand grit his teeth as he hated people who would use such cowardly methods instead of just fighting.

"Itachi wake him up I'm gonna kick his ass!" Luffy yelled as Itachi sighed and did as Luffy requested. The Genjutsu dropped and Caribou shot up like he had been scalded but before he could get his bearing he was pulled by his shirt.

As the Genjutsu dropped Luffy stretched his arm and yanked Caribou towards him before pummelling him into the deck with a Haki imbued punch which was reminiscent of what he did to 'Beast Tamer' Mohji early in his adventure.

"That's for trying to kill my crew you bastard" Luffy mutters as he leaves the prone body of Caribou twitching on the ground; while Luffy walked away Franky tied him up and propped him near the stairs so he could watch him and make sure he didn't have any tricks up his sleeve when he awoke.

While this had gone on the ship had made its way to the current which would take them into the Deep Ocean and closer to Fishman Island; Sanji who had been flirting aimlessly with Nami began to frown and rushed to the side of the ship. Now while Luffy may have his Conquerors Haki and Zoro might be able to make more use of Armament Haki with his swords, Sanji was a master of Observation which he had honed during his two years in hell (A.K.A Okama Island); so when he could sense a foreboding presence beneath them in the Ocean he trusted his instincts and decided to warn the crew.

"Guys I don't want to be the bearer of more bad news but something big is lurking beneath the ship" Sanji yells as he continues to watch the ocean below. This announcement naturally has two effects: the first is that Usopp, Chopper, Brook and Nami begin to panic and second Luffy begins to get excited over seeing something cool.

Fortunately or unfortunately depending on your perspective the Caribou Pirates finally reappeared and began closing the gap between the Sunny and their ship, Mohmoo had calmed down and was charging towards them and everything seemed to be going to plan for Coribou and their crew but their rescue attempt was foiled when Luffy decided to lock eyes with Mohmoo and released a small but precise blast of Conquerors Haki directly at the poor creature. Now while no one on either ship noticed the blast of Haki since it was so direct and precise Mohmoo took the brunt of it and his resolve was shattered and swam straight past the Sunny and into the Downward Current.

 **With the Caribou Pirates**

On the deck of the ship the crew were livid with Mohmoo who seemed to still be trying to carry them further down into the ocean. Angry yells and cursing were rising up amongst the crew and the loudest of all was Coribou who was Caribou's brother and the joint captain.

"Why does it keep doing that?" Coribou screamed in his stupid sounding drawl and began kicking and screaming like a petulant child; unfortunately due to their attention being on the captain they failed to notice as an enormous tentacle emerged from the murky waters surrounding the ship and began to slowly approach the ship. While this was happening two more tentacles emerged and began surrounding the crew who were somehow still oblivious to the peril they were in, this didn't last long however as the tentacles struck with astounding speed and accuracy, the coating surrounding the ship was burst and crew members were grabbed and pulled away into the depths.

Slowly as water pressure began cracking the hull of the wooden ship more and more people were dragged to their doom by the still unseen beast. Coribou despite not being the sharpest knife in the draw actually had the good idea to hide out of sight; sadly like the others he was eventually pulled out from his spot, however he did manage to cut the tentacle open with a large blade which prompted a bellow from the depths. The was followed by a gigantic octopus darting straight at Coribou and biting his legs which severed them and left a large mist of blood which stood out against the blue of the ocean. As the creature devoured the rest of Coribou its tentacle erupted into black flames which made it thrash in pain scattering debris around the water, the flames continued to burn as it tore off its tentacle and searched around for the source.

As its blue blood mixed with the faint traces of Coribou's; the creature spotted a slightly smaller ship a few hundred metres above its position and with unbridled rage it began swimming towards it.

 **On the Sunny**

Itachi wiped the blood which was flowing out the corner of his right eye; turning to look at the crew he saw looks of both horror at the slaughter they witnessed and amazement at Itachi's power, quickly waving off Chopper who rushed to him after seeing the blood streaming down his face Itachi speaks directly to Luffy.

"The creatures advancing on us, Luffy-kun should I reuse Amaterasu or do you and the others wish to deal with it?" Itachi asks quickly as the creature was closing the distance rapidly.

Luffy responds by walking to the edge and waiting, he wasn't waiting long as the creature shoots past the ship and unfurls itself to its full size which dwarfs the Sunny. Nami, Usopp and Chopper scream in terror hugging one another as the others get into their respective battle stances. Robin looks in shock as she yells out.

"Luffy be careful! That thing is a Kraken!"

Acknowledging Robin's warning, Luffy locks eyes with the creature and after a short stare down cocks his fist backwards and places the thumb of his free hand in his mouth.

" **Gear Third"** Luffy yelled as his arm expanded until his fist was as big as the creatures head which then became black as Haki covered it completely

" **GUM-GUM: ELEPHANT GUN!"** Luffy yells as he lets his fist fly which connects with the Krakens head and knocks it back however due to Luffy's arm entering sea water it immediately loses a large portion of strength; this allows the Kraken to remain conscious and once it shook off the blow it sent one of its tentacles straight at the Sunny. As Luffy tried to prepare himself but fails due to his arm still being soaked in sea water Itachi prepared to intercept however he stopped once Zoro began walking towards the approaching tentacle and in a flash the tentacle split into six parts and Zoro simply shook the blood off the blade before sheathing it. No one on the ship save for Luffy, Itachi and Sanji had even seen him draw his blade yet alone perform the move which split the tentacle like a hot knife through butter.

The Kraken now in complete agony and two tentacles down was about to attack again but saw a figure dashing through the ocean towards it. Sanji had leapt off the deck into the ocean and began bouncing through the ocean at a pace similar to him on land, as soon as he reached the Kraken his leg began to literally burn with white hot flames.

" **Diable Jambe"** Sanji says as his foot strikes down onto the Krakens head searing its flesh and knocking it into the path of Luffy's approaching attack.

" **GUM-GUM: ELEPHANT GUN"** Luffy yells as his fist makes contact with the weakened Kraken which knocks it unconscious and throws it back out of sight. Nami who had been waiting at the helm for the Kraken to be defeated wastes no time in steering the ship into the downward current and back on track to Fishman Island.

The temperature drops rapidly and all the Straw Hats save for Chopper and so while everyone goes to get their coats Luffy and Itachi simply wait it out as Luffy doesn't realise its cold and isn't bothered by it and Itachi decides to use an old ANBU trick to warm himself up. By covering his body in a thin layer of Chakra he insulates his body heat instead of it being released into the atmosphere.

The Sunny finally halts its descent and begins to travel in a straight line along what was presumed to be a deep sea current. After a short while a light appears in the distance which prompts questions as whether or not it's Fishman Island so Franky activates his own lights in his chest and sends out some form of Morse code. Itachi slowly began to get annoyed when a giant angler fish appears along with a Sea Giant which at this point didn't even faze Itachi as his **Sharingan** activates and spins into his **Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.**

The giant and the fish that were blocking the Sunny from progressing were beginning to grate on Itachi's nerves, as he wanted a quiet journey and an opportunity to relax and get to know the crew but it had been one issue after another and frankly he had had enough so when singing filled the filled his ears as the fabled 'Flying Dutchman' Came into view Itachi decided enough was enough.

" **Susano'o"** Itachi said as his orange ethereal ribcage surrounded him. Striding towards the edge of the ship, the rib cage forms an arm which in turn forms an ethereal sword.

With a flick of his wrist the ethereal blade splits the giant angler fish in half and before anyone could react, Itachi's Susano'o formed a second arm and grabbed the Sea Giant and pulled him down to look Itachi in the eye.

" **Genjutsu: Sharingan"** Itachi mutters as the Giants eyes become glazed and unfocused. "Now Giant-san you will grab the Flying Dutchman and drag it away from us so we can continue our journey in peace. Understood?" Itachi says loudly with authority in his tone.

The Giant nodded his massive head and grabbed hold of the ships ropes and began to pull it away slowly much to the ire of the captain who screamed profanity at the giant. As soon as they were out of sight Itachi deactivated his Sharingan and sat down on the deck, looking up he notices the astounded looks from everyone including Luffy.

"Why are you all staring at me? I simply sped up our journey as I am sick of all of the delays, from here until Fishman Island I will deal with all threats in a similar manner" Itachi states as he folds his arms and closes his eyes.

The crew while still stunned begin to continue with their tasks or talk amongst themselves about what just occurred.

"Remind me not to annoy Itachi" Usopp says to Brook as the Musician tunes his guitar and lets out a cheery laugh; "Itachi-san sure has an effective way of dealing with threats, it does my heart good knowing he's on our side... oh wait I don't have a heart Yohohohoho"

Zoro who had an idea that Itachi was hiding some serious power however he didn't expect something that effective. In the Kitchen Sanji had the exact same thoughts and wondered if Luffy was as strong as or stronger than their new member. On the opposite side of the Sunny Nami and Robin were having a similar discussion.

"Itachi may have a point, if we travelled more directly and dealt with threats more effectively we would spend less time between islands and would probably save money on supplies" Nami sighed as she pondered on all the money she could of saved.

Robin lets out a small chuckle as she steals a glance at the Uchiha who had been approached by a concerned looking Chopper.

 **With Itachi**

"Uhm...Itachi-san?"

Itachi's eyes opened to the sound of a small voice, looking around he spots Chopper looking at him with a small medkit.

"Yes Doctor-san how can I help?" Itachi asked despite guessing the answer. Chopper begins to set the medkit down and unpack specific items such as a torch and cotton buds.

"Itachi, can I check on your eyes? They were bleeding earlier and I would be unable to rest unless I know you are in good health" Chopper says which makes Itachi smile and activate his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan

"Doctor-san, you don't need to worry my eyes are the source of some of my abilities and while it may seem like they are damaged it is simply a temporary side effect of Amaterasu. However if it makes you feel better you can examine my eyes" Itachi says which makes Chopper smile and begin his examination.

"Itachi, can I see you use Amaterasu so I can see its effects on your eye?" Chopper asks which Itachi complies, closing his eye for a moment before reopening it and lighting a small portion of the deck on fire before immediately dousing it.

Chopper who had been closely examining his eye gasps; "Itachi your eye builds up a large amount of pressure which causes blood vessels in your eye to rupture and then after a few seconds they heal completely. I believe you focusing all the power into one spot causes the blood vessels to burst" Chopper explains

"So you're saying I should spread the power throughout my Sharingan rather than focus it?" Itachi summarises before beginning to try Chopper's idea.

" **Amaterasu"** Itachi calls as he releases the power instantly without any charge up and to his surprise the entire general area ignites in a black flame that while still as hot was weaker due to it being more widespread with less Chakra powering it. _'This is interesting, while not as devastating as it is when its charged, its more widespread and could help me should I find myself surrounded'_ Itachi thought as he pats Chopper on his head

"Thank you Doctor-kun, you have just given me a new technique" Itachi says with a sincere smile which Chopper returns tenfold

"Wow, really?!" Chopper yells with pride as he does his happy dance. Itachi was about to reply when he was interrupted by Nami yelling that Fishman Island was in view; climbing to his feet Itachi along with Chopper walk over to the group to see a gigantic island covered in a thick bubble.

As the Sunny gets closer to the Island It's intercepted by a swarm of Sea Kings which are ridden by Fish men. Completely ignoring their rant Itachi begins to activate his Sharingan to deal with them but a hand stops him.

Looking around he sees Nami who shakes her head and whispers, 'the resin is close to breaking we can't take the risk, Franky is preparing a coup de burst which will shoot us into the island'. Understanding Nami Itachi nods and simply waits until he feels the ship launch itself forward which forces him and the others to the deck because the resin shrinks and constricts everyone . As the Sunny passes through the bubble the resin is torn off by the bubble. Before they can breathe a sigh of relief the Sunny passes through a second bubble which submerges everybody in water. The Sunny is swept into a current which throws everyone in different directions. Brook and Robin get pulled by the force of the current and are quickly swept away much to the horror of the crew; however they can't dwell as the Sunny spins in which snatches Franky and Zoro. The only bright side is Zoro and Franky are swept in the same direction as Robin and Brook which meant they can try to stop them from drowning.

Itachi quickly sends Chakra to his feet which help him keep his balance; it doesn't help him when Nami crashes into him, knocking the breath out of his lungs and dislodging him from the floor. As they are swept away he quickly grabs Nami's hand and pulls her into a hug to prevent them from separating, as an afterthought he surrounds them with his Susano'o to protect them as the current sweeps the two away from the ship. After a few minutes they are thrown out of the current and once they stopped spinning Itachi spots light shining through the water. Forcing his legs to move he began to kick and force his way upwards towards the light.

Itachi breaks through the surface of the water with Nami, as he looks around he spots the shore a short distance away which Itachi swims towards slowly. Trying to keep conscious and make sure Nami's head stays above the water was difficult and when his body is begging for rest makes it ten times worse. Upon landing on the shore Itachi pulls Nami to safety before turning and vomiting salt water before collapsing to the ground, the last thing Itachi sees before darkness overtakes him is Nami cough up water and suck in a deep breath.

 **Well that's a wrap; I hope it was good since I hated writing it because I hated the travelling to Fishman Island in the anime so writing it was definitely a challenge. So Itachi gained a new variant of Amaterasu which I wanted to add but felt like it was something Itachi couldn't have figured out without a doctor examining his eye, don't worry it won't be used much I just felt like if I'm going to create the Circle's of hell which most are derived from Tsukiyomi then Amaterasu needs some branch techniques. So finally please review and tell me what you think and if you have any questions send me a PM and I'll respond.**

 **TheIrishSaiyan**


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